Every now and again, you may experience an epiphany. This may be a big, monumental boom or even a small-scale flash. Oprah calls them "aha moments"; while Arsenio said they are "things that make you go hmmm". I call these experiences "WHOAments".

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Tuesday, January 15, 2013

A Personal Moment and Tribute: Damon M. Estell

During our first church service of the year, our Pastor, Rick
Sherer, began a new series titled, "2013: Be Steadfast and Excel".

In Pastor Rick's message he admonished our congregation that 2013
will be a year of shake-ups. He said that God revealed it to him that during
this year, some major things will happen and they will happen quickly. He went
on to say that a lot of people who began the year with us would not be here at
the end -- spiritually and/or physically. He instructed us to not grow weary in
doing the right thing because in the end, we will reap the rewards if we don’t
give up (Galatians 6:9).

Pastor Rick’s message was not intended to be one of doom and gloom
but one of hope and encouragement to remain steadfast and not lose sight of our
faith. As he put it, either you will be shaken or you would be the one doing
the shaking.

Yesterday, our family lost a very good friend, Damon M. Estell. He succumbed
to the complications of a heart attack at just 42 years of age.

While his actual death came as quite a surprise because it seemed
so sudden, Damon had been battling a series of health challenges for quite some
time and the heart issues were a part of that.

Thursday, I was laughing and talking with Damon. Today, he is no
longer here with us. Talk about quick!

Damon was a man of great character, tremendous faith and
integrity. When others turned their backs on my husband and I, it was Damon and
his wife who were there for us. He made it crystal clear that my husband and I
were his family and that he wasn't shutting us out. He called people out on
their issues and they knew where he stood. Not only that but, he was
firmly grounded in his faith.

When I learned of his passing, the enemy tried to tempt me to
mourn. He didn’t win that! Instead, the first thing that I found
confidence in was that Damon was a true believer who lived out his life
according to the Word.

“Do not mourn like those who have no hope”.

His wife, Rachel, is doing well and is putting her own faith in
action. Though the tears roll with the realization that she has lost her
husband, she says she keeps reminding herself that she had a wonderful life and
marriage with him.

Their children, Hannan (11 years old), Ephraim (12 years old) and
Dominique (20 years old) are walking out the things that their father has
instilled in them. They are all holding up well. In fact, Ephraim is the one
who reminded his mom to stand on her faith as the paramedics performed CPR on
his dad right in front of him.

So while, it is quite sad that we won't see Damon for a while, the
better part is that we know that his passing is not the final act! (Praising
God as I type this) and that we will see him again. Even now I can hear his
voice and some of the funny things that we would joke about.

So yes, the tears come just because there aren't many men like him
(thank God I have one), and thinking about all the good times that we had with
him, I know that if he were given the chance (which in a sense he was, as he
was revived three times from Saturday
night to Monday), he wouldn't want to come back here.

Tell you something funny that Jazmyn said. She said that Ephraim
and Hannan should be happy because now their dad will win at the statue game
because he can't move. He's able to stay super still. ha, ha. Kids say the
darndest things. Miss and love you, Brother! We will see each other again!